“Media is in a center of a storm of turbulance,” Zuckerman says. Surprisingly, global newspaper trends in revenue have been relatively stable, with a 1% compound annual growth decline, which he calls “shockingly mild.”

“Revenue growth is the primary driver of total shareholder return for companies that grow over time. You can spend all your time telling a better story. You can do all the cost cutting you want. You can even give it all back to your shareholders in dividend or buying your stock back. But if you can’t get the top line to grow, you will not be a good grower. And that, of course, is what transformation is all about in many regards.”

A few statistics he shared:

88% of consumers have encountered branded content.

86% of consumers have liked the branded content they’ve encountered.

65% of consumers have sought out branded content.

“You as media companies, as publishers, have permission from your audiences to support brands.”

About Dawn McMullan

Dawn McMullan is senior editor at INMA, based in Dallas, Texas, USA. She can be reached at dawn.mcmullan@inma.org.